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December 8, 2015

The United Nations Organization, an
international organization was established in 1945. During the Second world war
(in 1941) the American president F.D. Roosvelt and the British prime
minister Winston
Churchill met
on a battle ship and concluded the Atlantic charter. This
charter was discussed in various conferences.

It was finally discussed in the San
Francisco conference of 1945. The UN charter was signed at San Francisco on 26,h
June 1945. As the result UNO came into existence on 24h October
1945. At
present UNO has 192 members with its head quarters at New York.

Main Objectives

To maintain international peace and
security.

To develop friendly relations among
nations.

To settle international disputes by
peaceful means.

To be a centre for helping nations to
achieve these goals.

Organs of the UNO

The UNO has six major organs. They are,

1 .The General Assembly.

2. The Security
Council.

3. The Economic
and Social Council.

4. The Trusteeship
Council.

5. The International
Court of Justice.

6. The Secretariat.

The General Assembly

The General Assembly is the UNO's main
organ and deliberative body. It has the right to discuss and make
recommendations on all matters within the scope of the UN charter. It consists
of representatives of all member countries.

Each member country can send five members
with one vote. Generally it meets once in a year.

Mrs.Vijayalakshmi
Pandit
was elected as the President of the General Assembly in 1953.

The Security Council

The Council has five Permanent members -
The USA, the UK, France, the Russian Federation and China and ten non-permanent
members. The non- permanent members are elected by the General Assembly for two
years term. The Permanent members have the right to veto (Negative vote) for
any Council decision. Its main responsibility is to maintain International
Peace and Security.

The Economic and Social Council

It consists of 54 members for a period of
9 years, one third of its members are retiring every three years. It
Co-ordinates the economic and social work of the United Nations and the
specialized Agencies.

The Trusteeship Council

The Trusteeship Council looks after
certain Territories placed under the Trusteeship of the UNO. Every member
nation can send one qualified representative to the Council.

Structure of UNO

Specialized Agencies

The specialized agencies of the UNO are
many. A few are mentioned below.

International Court of Justice

The Principal judicial body of the UNO is
the International Court of Justice. It is located at the Hague in
Netherlands. It consists of 15 Judges, elected by the General Assembly and the
Security Council. It tries the cases of the member countries which are brought
before the court. It acts as an advisory body for the General Assembly,
Security Council and other organs of the UNO

The Secretariat

The Administrative functions of the UNO
are performed by the secretariat The UN Secretariat carries out the day to day
works of the organization and implements the programmes and policies laid down
by the organs of the UNO.

The Secretary General is the Chief
Administrative Officer of the UNO. He is appointed by the General Assembly on
the advice of the Security Council for a period of five years. The present
Secretary General is Mr Ban ki Moon from South Korea.

The World Health Organization (WHO),
The
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO),
The
United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), The International Labour
Organisation (ILO),
Food
and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) and The World Bank (IBRD),
These
Organisations develop the economic and social aspects of the member countries.

Official Languages

The Official languages of the UNO are
Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish. However its working
languages are the English and the French.

Flag

The White UN Emblem-on a light blue
background. Two bent Olive branches opening at the top and in between them is
the World map.

Finance

LINO gets its financial aid mainly from
USA and from other member nations.

Major Achievements of the United Nations

O UNO has rendered a great
service in establishing peace and security by solving various problems-
generally political disputes by Security Council, Legal disputes by International
Court of Justice and others by special agencies.

O The UNO has solved many
international disputes and preserves peace in the world through peaceful
negotiations.

O It settled disputes
between Israel and Palestine, Iran and Iraq and withdrawal of Soviet troops
from Afghanistan.

O It has signed many
Nuclear Test Ban treaties like NTBT in 1963 and CTBT (Comprehensive Test Ban
Treaty) in 1996.

O In the UN Conference on
Environment and Development held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, all countries
adopted 'Agenda
21" -
a blueprint to promote sustainable development or the concept of economic
growth while protecting natural resources.

O The UN Development Fund
for Women (UNIFEM)
and
the International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women (INSTRAW)
have
supported programmes and projects to improve the quality of life for women in
over 100 countries.

O The UNO played a vital
role in the Suez Canal crisis of 1956. It made France, Britain and Israel to
withdraw troops from Egypt. The UNO also settled the Korean War and Vietnam
War.

Overview of the United Nations 50th
Anniversary Celebration

In 1995 the United Nations celebrated its
50th Anniversary of service to the global community. An overall theme of the
celebration, "We
The People of the United Nations. United for a Better World," was
endorsed by the General Assembly in October 1993. In November 1995 the UN flag
was carried into outer space by the astronauts of the Space Shuttle Atlantis,
to salute United Nations work for the peaceful uses of outer space.